Ringling Red 1981 #21 (Jack White)

Jack White, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Jack White was a TV newsman for Channel 10 here in San Diego. A circus fan as well as a talented magician, he always arranged for his station to provide in-depth TV news coverage of the Ringling show's appearances in San Diego. He conducted one of the first TV interviews with Gunther back in 1969. In 1972, his cameraman was standing by the back door ramp of the San Diego Sports Arena when one of Charly Baumann's tigers got loose. (The cameraman got some great footage of Charly working to keep the tiger under control until it could be coaxed back into its cage.) As part of his Ringling Circus news coverage, Jack would fly to Tucson or Phoenix, where the show was then playing, and tape interviews with performers and show personnel. These exclusive interviews would later air on Channel 10 while Ringling was in San Diego. One year, the show was playing here on the anniversary of Ringling's last performance under canvas. He did a piece on " "the big tops folds for the last time" and many people thought that it was the current Ringling show that was closing! Over the years, he literally got Ringling many thousands of dollars worth of free TV publicity and had a great time doing it. Later, the management of Channel 10 was largely taken over by "Left Coast" liberals who were PETA supporters and not about to let Jack provide any free publicity for the Circus. If fact, when Gunther died, Jack offered to put together a tribute piece using all of the exclusive Gunther footage he'd accumulated over the years and management turned him down cold.